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Towns hidden within forests and riverfronts, in a land of biodiversity

The Monte di Giano

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Monticiano, or Mons Gianus, the Monte di Giano: here there is a destiny
written by the hand of God, looking toward both the past and the future, in one
direction and in its opposite. It is close to Siena, but deep in the Val di Merse, not far from the sea, with the Maremma just nearby, with sea breezes and mountain vibes,
sulfurous waters and chestnut forests.

The
natural reserves here capture a world perennially caught between natural
barriers and time travel. The darkness and silence hide many souls: Etruscan
and Roman, Byzantine and Lombard, all lost in the wild. Ancient transhumance
and processions still don’t negate the dignity of the foresters, nor the pride
in having defeated Fascism, and at a significant cost.

A goat is the symbol of a two-faced god and a land defined by duality: on one side, it is Monticiano; on another, Iesa, San Lorenzo a Merse, Scalvaia,
Tocchi, Petriolo. Everywhere you turn there are churches, ancient walls,
frescoes that transport you back to the past, alongside contemporary art parks,
new environmental technologies and a multimedia center focused on biodiversity.

Differences
meet and unite, all in the name of Giano.

Chapter #2

The baths of Petriolo

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Folgóre of San Gimignano, Dante’s poetic
predecessor, was an early witness of the thundering thermal baths. Pope Pius
II frequented this spot, as did the Emperor Henry VII. They are part
of a highly contested area fought over by the lucomonie (Etruscan villas) of Roselle and Volterra, then dominated
by Siena, and passed to the Pannocchieschi d’Elci family.

Nature in Monticiano is thriving, as one of its best-known native sons,
Filippo (Filenio) Galli, a 15th
century pastoral-romantic poet, wrote.

People still go for dips in the warm waters of Petriolo, just as they
do in the fresh waters of Farma or the Merse, two more feminine rivers.

These are enchanted places—the kind
of spots you only find in the imaginations of poets.

Chapter #3

The Blessed Antonio Patrizi

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Lives
here are imbued with devotion, toward both God and nature.

On one
hand, there’s the legacy of the Blessed
Antonio Patrizi, a 14th century man of faith , whose remains are
still venerated and commemorated through a series of solemn events put on by a
laypeople and art groups; on the other, there are entire generations of people
who identify themselves with the forest, and thereby with the mushrooms, game
and, above all, the chestnuts. The latter are dried up to make flour: these
traditions still exist and are emblematic of a certain style of life.

Chapter #4

The town that does not exist

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The
devil on the hunt for a soul to take to hell never found Iesa. He would ask, but every town resident responded that he was actually in Lama, or
in Cerbaia, Solaia, Palazzo, Contra or
Quarciglioni, in one of those groups
of hosues that holds 250 groups of houses but from 20 different nationalities! Iesa is Etruscan (originally Aisinal, later Romanized to Aesius).

Foiano is the ancient name of San Lorenzo a Merse. Tocchi
and its castle, Petriolo and Scalvaia will take you straight back to medieval
times. But time isn’t even really a factor here: it is suspended between games
(such as ball at 9pm), folk festivals and religious ceremonies, and life in the
forest.